Matthew J. Will
Associate Professor
207 McAlester Hall
willm@missouri.edu
Faculty
Lab Information
About the Lab

Investigating motivational circuits underlying drug and natural rewards (i.e. food and exercise)

Education

B.A. St. John's University, MN

M.A University of Colorado, Boulder

Ph.D University of Colorado, Boulder

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Research Interests

The focus of my laboratory is to apply methods of behavioral neuroscience towards the study of neural systems mediating the motivational aspects of drug of abuse and natural rewards, including food and exercise. Our research addresses these concerns and questions through an integrative approach of behavioral, pharmacological, and molecular biological techniques.

Selected Publications

Selected (past 5 years) Publications below:

Full list of publications: My Bibilography

Johns HW, Tapia MA, Parker KE, McCabe MP, Lee JR, Booth FW, Will MJ. Examination of μ-Opioid Receptor Activation in the Nucleus Accumbens on Diet Choice and Consumption Patterns in Rats Selectively Bred to Run Long or Short Distances. Behavioral Brain Research, under review.

Raza Qazi, Kyle E. Parker, Choong Yeon Kim, Rudriger Rill, Makenzie R. Norris, Jaeyoon Chung, Jenny Kim, John Bilbily, Marie C. Walicki, Graydon B. Gereau, Hyoyoung Lim, Yanyu Xiong, Jenna R. Lee, Melissa A Tapia, Matthew J. Will, Sangtae Ha, Jordan G. McCall, Jae-Woong Jeong. (2022). Scalable and modular wireless-network infrastructure for large-scale behavioural neuroscience. Nature Biomedical Engineering. Jun;6(6):771-786.

Sun GY, Appenteng MK, Li R, Woo T, Yang B, Qin C, Pan M, Cieślik M, Cui J, Fritsche KL, Gu Z, Will M, Beversdorf D, Adamczyk A, Han X, Greenlief CM. (2021). Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Supplementation Alters Phospholipid Species and Lipid Peroxidation Products in Adult Mouse Brain, Heart, and Plasma. Neuromolecular Med. Mar;23(1):118-129.

Tapia MA, Sage AS, Fullerton EI, Judd JM, Hildebrant PC, Will MJ, Lever SZ, Lever JR, Miller DK. The sigma receptor ligand N-phenylpropyl-N'-(4-methoxyphenethyl)3piperazine (YZ-067) enhances the cocaine conditioned-rewarding properties while inhibiting the development of sensitization of cocaine in mice. (2020) Psychopharmacology (Berl). Mar;237(3):723-734. PubMed PMID: 31822924.

Tapia MA, Lee JR, Bathe EL, Rivera LL, Mason KL, Cessac ME, Miller DK, Will MJ. Sigma-1 receptor antagonist, PD144418, selectively reduces female motivation for food during negative energy balance.  Behav Brain Res. 2019 Jul 17:112087. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112087. [Epub ahead of print]  PMID:31325519.

Lee JR,  Tapia MA, Weise VN, Nelson JR, Tamasi MA, Fodor KR, Mason KL, Rivera LL, Booth FW, Will MJ. Voluntary Wheel Running Effects on Intra-Accumbens Opioid Driven Diet Preferences in Male and Female Rats. Neuropharmacology. 2019 May 15;155:22-30. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.05.017. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31100290.

Tapia MA, Lever JR, Lever SZ, Will MJ, Park ES, Miller DK. Sigma-1 receptor ligand PD144418 and sigma-2 receptor ligand YUN-252 attenuate the stimulant effects of methamphetamine in mice. Psychopharmacology. (Berl). 2019 May 28;. doi: 10.1007/s00213-019-05268-2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31139878.

Tapia MA, Lee JR, Gereau GB, Moore JM, Weise VN, Mason KL, Cessac ME, Bodeen JL, Miller DK, Will MJ. (2019). Sigma-1 receptor antagonist PD144418 suppresses food reinforced operant responding in rats. Behav Brain Res. Apr 19;362:71-76. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.01.011 PMID: 30639509

Tapia MA, Lee JR, Weise VN, Tamasi AM, Will MJ. (2019). Sex differences in hedonic and homeostatic aspects of palatable food motivation. Behav Brain Res. 2019  Feb 1;359:396-400. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.11.023. PMID:30465814

Lee JR, Parker KE, Tapia MA, Johns HW, Floros TG. Roberts MD, Booth FW, Will MJ. (2019). Voluntary wheel running effects on intra-accumbens opioid high-fat feeding and locomotor behavior in Sprague-Dawley and Wistar rat strains. Physiology & Behavior. Feb 23;206:67-75. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.02.015.  PMID:30807769

Lee JR, Tapia MA, Nelson JR, Moore JM, Gereau GB, Childs TE, Vieira-Potter VJ, Booth FW, Will MJ.  (2019). Sex Dependent Effects of Physical Activity on Diet Preference in Rats Selectively Bred for High or Low Levels of Voluntary Wheel Running. Behavioral Brain Research.  Feb 1;359:95-103. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.10.018. PMID:30392852

Belenchia AM, Jones KL, Will M, Beversdorf DQ, Vieira-Potter V, Rosenfeld CS, Peterson CA. (2018). Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy affects expression of adipogenic-regulating genes peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) in lean male mice offspring. Eur J Nutr. Mar;57(2):723-730. doi: 10.1007/s00394-016-1359-x. Epub 2016 Dec 21. PubMed PMID: 28004271.

Matsui F, Hecht P, Yoshimoto K, Watanabe Y, Morimoto M, Fritsche K, Will M, Beversdorf D. (2018) DHA mitigates autistic behaviors accompanied by dopaminergic change in a gene/prenatal stress mouse model. Neuroscience. 371, 407–419. PMID: 29288796.

Sjaarda CP, Hecht P, McNaughton AJM, Zhou A, Hudson ML, Will MJ, Smith G, Ayub M, Liang P, Chen N, Beversdorf D, Liu X. (2017). Interplay between maternal Slc6a4 mutation and prenatal stress: a possible mechanism for autistic behavior development. Scientific Reports. Aug 18;7(1):8735. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07405-3. PMID: 28821725

Lee JR, Muckerman JE, Wright AM, Davis DJ, Childs TE, Gillespie CE, Vieira-Potter VJ, Booth FW, Ericsson AC, Will MJ. (2017). Sex Determines Effect of Physical Activity on Diet Preference: Association of Striatal Opioids and Gut Microbiota Composition. Behav Brain Res. Sep 15;334:16-25. PMID: 28743600

Davis DJ, Hecht PM, Jasarevic E, Beversdorf DQ, Will MJ, Fritsche K, Gillespie CH. (2017) Sex-specific effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the microbiome and behavior of socially-isolated mice. Brain Behav Immun. Jan;59:38-48. PMID: 27621225

Smethells JR, Zlebnik NE, Miller DK, Will MJ, Booth F, Carroll ME. (2016) Cocaine self-administration and reinstatement in female rats selectively bred for high and low voluntary running.  Drug Alcohol Depend. Oct 1;167:163-8. PMID: 27567437

Park YM, Kanaley JA, Padilla J, Zidon T, Welly RJ, Will MJ, Britton SL, Koch LG, Ruegsegger GN, Booth FW, Thyfault JP, Vieira-Potter VJ. (2016) Effects of intrinsic aerobic capacity and ovariectomy on voluntary wheel running and nucleus accumbens dopamine receptor gene expression.  Physiol Behav. Oct 1;164(Pt A):383-9. PMID: 27297873